For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. – Job 14:7
Metaphors of trees compared to people are written throughout the scriptures. Yahweh created such a variety of trees. You see them in so many shapes, colors and sizes, just like people. Trees give so much to the earth. They offer shade on a hot day, shelter from wind and rain, fruit of all kinds, as well as a variety of flowers and fragrances. Even after they die their wood is used to build so many different things as well as fuel for heat. When you think about the characteristics of living trees, this is why Yahweh compares them to people, so that we can exhibit similar traits in our own lives. In biblical language, Yahweh sometimes speaks symbolically of trees as if they are actual people.
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of Yahweh, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man that trusts in Yahweh, and whose hope Yahweh is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
In the book of Judges, we see trees annointing a king:
“The trees went forth to anoint a sovereign over them. And they said to the olive tree, ‘reign over us!’ “And the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my oil, with which they esteem mighty ones and men, and go to sway over trees?’ “Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come, reign over us!’ Judges 9:8-10 Read More
“Yoceph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall.” Gen 49:22
“Trees are fountains. They spill into the sky in perfect forms. They can take a hundred gallons of water from the ground in a single hour and send it up their trunks out their graceful branches. Through the stoma on a giant crown of leaves they transpire the water vapor out into the sky. It returns as rain and cycles again through this perfectly refined system…If we could freeze a fountain it would be a glassy Elm tree. Trees are spilling upward and outward in sub-slow motion. Tree time is long and slow, meant for sloths and moss, difficult for humans to comprehend. We can learn so much about patience, forbearance, groundedness, stillness, strength and flexibility from the trees around us…” Link here
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2
Isaiah describes people as oak trees:
“To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a headdress instead of ashes, The oil of rejoicing instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of Yahweh, that He may show forth His beautiful glory.” Isaiah 61:3
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars. And he was as strong as the oaks, yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath. Amos 2:9 Read more
When Yahshua healed a blind man, the first thing that he saw was men that looked like trees walking:
“And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” Then He placed His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored, and saw all clearly. Mark 8:24-25
Under the New Covenant established by Messiah, we read that the tribes of Israel and Judah (Yahudah) that received him and believed him were likened to branches of a good olive tree. Those who didn’t receive their messiah were broken off the tree. This gospel message (good news) was then extended to all peoples of the world that if you believe in Messiah you are likened to branches of a wild olive tree grafted into the good olive tree. Under this New Covenant established by Messiah, the whole concept of who and what Israel is was changed. Read more
“Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy before Yahweh, for he is coming to judge the earth” 1 Chronicles 16:33.